Pope Francis has for the first time publicly acknowledged the scandal of priests and bishops sexually abusing nuns, and says he is committed to doing more to fight the problem.

Speaking to reporters on board the papal plane, Francis said: “Should we do something more? Yes. Is there the will? Yes. But it’s a path that we have already begun.”

Francis noted that Pope Benedict XVI had taken action against a French order after some of its religious sisters had been reduced to “sexual slavery” at the hands of priests or their founder.

The issue has come to the forefront amid the Catholic Church’s overall reckoning with the sexual abuse of minors and the #MeToo-inspired acknowledgement that adults can be victims of abuse when there is an imbalance of power in a relationship.